Florence Nightingale

Could someone please help me! I have no idea what this florence nightingale quote means:

"But, in our imperfect state of conscience and enlightenment, publicity, and the collision resulting from publicity are the best guardians of the interests of the sick."

I have to do an assignment on it, but I have no idea how to break it down. Thanks,

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[Dixielee, BSN, RN]

I just woke up and it is difficult to get a feel for what she was saying. Do you have any more of the text? Reading it with more context would probably help. Just as it is...who the heck knows?

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

I'd usually reinterpret each word and then see if I could figure it out that way.

I could tell you what I think it means, but I don't want to spoil your fun. :wink2:

[nightingale, RN]

You would have to look at the context of the time and what was going on during that quote. She was such a renagade for that era in helping the injurered of the war.

Let's hear some more of what your assaignment is about; or how they prepared you for this assignment.

[Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN]

I interpret that as saying that negative publicity could be a driver of improvements in the healthcare biz.

A modern day example might be the publication of stat's of nosocomial infections in hospitals or the number of experienced JCAHO infractions in the last 12 months.

Didn't ponder this too long, but that's the impression I'm getting from the quote. Is that what she intended to mean? Don't really know.

FN was a pretty sharp cookie... way ahead of her time... for sure.

[talaxandra]

"But, in our imperfect state of conscience and enlightenment, publicity, and the collision resulting from publicity are the best guardians of the interests of the sick."

Translation: It would be nice if we could rely on conscience [people's innate knowledge of what is right] and enlightenment [awareness of the best techniques to enhance wellbeing] to ensure that the sick are provided with the facilities, staff and care that is in their best interests. Unfortunately conscience can be overridden, and enlightenment is not as universal as we might hope. Therefore we have to rely on publicity, and corresponding public outcry, regarding negative outcomes of inadequate care to ensure that these needs are met.

She was a lot less verbose than I!

[Koalablue]

According to this link, Nightingale, being upset about the conditions soldiers were subjected to used her contacts to publicise it. So....by showing the world what the army was up (i.e. publicising it), despite it being negative publicity for the military, she was able to use it to safeguard the sick and wounded and force through better care for them.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REnightingale.htm

[Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN]

... by showing the world what the army was up (i.e. publicising it), despite it being negative publicity for the military, she was able to use it to safeguard the sick and wounded and force through better care for them...

Guess brilliant minds think alike!

Hahahahahahaha!